Far From Sucking (reviews)

[Spud]

You want a clever title, make your own thread.

[Meatwad]

You want a clever title, make your own thread.

"Three Cups of Pus"! "Three Cups of Pus"!

[EightLeggedOedipus]

Cheat & Marigold Jenkins and the Wednesday afternoon boys
+++ "top of a pizza". "sweet titties, mama" +++
--- Intro is too long. Banjo and guitar out of time (and tune) ---

Klownhole
/// I'm unable to put my finger on what part of this I don't like.
All the sounds are actually good. The rhythm, melody and
arrangement are interesting. The vocals are over the top, but
in a good way. I just can't take something about it. ///

Rio MonDo
+++ UO's guitar + vox. +++
--- But it's hard to reference a five star song
and not sound inferior. Especially when the timing
is all jacked. Is that a tambourine? ---

Screamin Ike
+++ haha "crash" +++
--- Nerdcore rappers are taking dibs on who gets to dis the newb +++
/// (I've been gone a while, so you might not be new, but you sound
like it because the rap is rushed, and your cadence is weak.) ///

Shambles Square
+++ J$ chorus!!! Nice drums +++
/// The 'metronome' sound is cool, but one note is
out of tune. Guitar tone is a little weak. ///

Steve Durand
+++ "press your lips firmly to his ass" +++
/// Why do you still sing like a robot? It kind
of works for the context of the song, but it
would still sound BETTER if you got a little
more PASSIONATE about your craft. ///
+++ I'm not sure how but the last chorus sounds
great. Is there a different harmony there? +++

Those Meddling Kids
+++ Good intro. Decent song. I really enjoyed
the reversed/pad sounds. Nice touches +++
--- Some parts sound a little jumbled rhythmically.
It might be as simple as changing diction to fit
the beat. ---

I think I'm voting for Shambles, but nods to
Meddling and Steve.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand

/// Why do you still sing like a robot? It kind
of works for the context of the song, but it
would still sound BETTER if you got a little
more PASSIONATE about your craft. ///

Well, I'm torn. When I try to put some more passion behind it I get accused of sounding like Kermit. And when I try to control it so I don't sound that way I get accused of being robotic. I really don't know what to do.

Steve

[EightLeggedOedipus]

/// Why do you still sing like a robot? ///

passion / Kermit / control / robotic.
I really don't know what to do.

Double track and blend to taste.

Haha, nerds. Well, I dare say show me a so called sounds kermit like tune.
I'll bet it is truly better. I just wasn't here to defend you from ROBT. (Reviewers of Bad Taste).

But I've just had a lump in my throat removed. What what!!! No I didn't type that. Oh God. My posting skills. ahhhh ahhha ha haaah ahhh

nerdssssssss

[Screamin Ike]

ALWAYS an issue for me. but this IS my first fight. thanx for not being too rough...

yea... uhm... i can hack out a review this week, i think. i have a lot to say.

[c.layne]

[edit] nevermind, it's up now. thanks again, spud!

[furrypedro]

Cheat & Marigold Jenkins and the Wednesday afternoon boys: .......skip (sorry to give you a review that was shorter than your band name, though arguably your band name was more interesting)

Klownhole!: I've still not fully clicked with the klownhole sound. This song is pretty cool, the way it lurches from side to side and it's pretty well played. but i still feel like the funky organ is pulling against the harder rockin element of the band. and the guitar reverb is making it seem looser than it perhaps is. This is so resolutely 70's in that gothic metal way. I think your purpose in life is to support the Tap . nice fade-out

Rio Mondo: This is pretty good, reminds me of that Chris Isaac song ('wicked game'?), good effect on the vocals but the guitar and tambourine doesn't really gel with the vocals and electric guitar, mixwise. thanks for leaving the random accapella bit to the end.

Screamin Ike: Nice beat, one problem with it is it drowns out the words in places. Some of the rhymes sound very forced, a few too many syllables in some lines too. I wouldn't mind about that normally but rapping does rely on a decent flow and this would be fine but it keeps being broken up by a dodgy phrase every few lines.

Shambles Square ft MC Heapey: haha, christ. Peter Kay's anthem to the north. Grimsby represent!

Steve Durand: Time for some good time skank. maybe you don't have the best voice in the world, but it's great that you don't stop trying new things with it. it's all very well for those who can turn out the same thing every week and have everyone think it's great, but this is different (even for you), it's fun, and it's damn impressive the way you can pull off another genre so convincingly. good lyrics too

TMK: strum, strum....strum, snip snip, reverse, repeat....load, sample, clicky click....emmmoooooote...tweak. end

Steve Durand (again) by 1609.344m

[slowRodeo]

rio mondo - in the intro the guitar seems just a little low. like its annoying me because i want to hear it a little more. and then you start singing anddd no. serious problems with mixing. the voice sounds way over to the left and the (crap) whatever the clanging thing is is like right there in your face so its like crap. and the ending wasn't funny. could have been better but not by much.

screamin ike - boom boom crash bababoom boom crash. haha. yeah you need to slow down your rap and breath. nice try though no way i could vote for it because it needed more noise even if it was made with your mouth.

klownhole - This was alright. but was so droning that i stop listening and started daydreaming and this is all i wrote. until it changed. then i started again.

those meddling kids - like the intro. The postal service did your music, which is getting played out, but your voice is actually welcome change. needs something though like some bass or drums, whoa exactly when i wrote that the drums kicked in. ok now i like this better but oh its over. it needed those drums sooner. as far as this fights going so far this is the best ive heard, or at least the one with the most potential.

shambles square - ok im feelin ya. is this your actual accent? sounds reallly fake. my brother in law is from conventry. not bad though. contender.

cheat and friends - too quiet. talking tooo much. bleh. too off time nothing matches up. singing not that bad. but bad. concept not really working for me. just cause its on the internet doesn't mean it doesn't have to be at least a little bit listenable. goddamn it. guess theres lemons everywhere.

Shtheven D. - you know lips to ass isn't that far from sucking. at least i dont think you sound like a robot, that much. actually if you had done a robot voice i would have loved this song. like fatalker or something, wow, now i really cant vote for you sorry, you missed the boat on that one.

i guess i'm voting for those meddling kids cause i see alot of potential there and would like to hear more from them.


-Trevor

[jb]

Steve Durand-- that's great! The horns are REALLY great, and the lyrics are so nice and fun. The way these people talk about singing you'd think they'd never heard somebody with a weird voice before. Hello, # anybody? It's not like you're stilted or anything, geez. You're not! I like it. Good job.

Shambles Square-- pretty cool, but that guitar really needed to be thought through more. it's rambly and sticks out. two tablespoonsful more inspiration would have done it.

Marigold whosits-- same here-- you're so close to clever it hurts, but you don't quite nail it. a little more inspiration, or wackiness or something, and this would have been great.

[furrypedro]

I'm bummed out at the fact that this would've been a really easy fight to win and yet Steve's probably gonna beat me again (and with good reason).

Does my song really sound like the postal service or is it just because it's a song that uses digital and electronic instruments and they happen to be the easiest point of reference? Give Up struck me as very electro-house orientated, and this track never really goes anywhere near house, my beats usually develop from a basic hip hop rhythm. The fact that someone would claim that this sounds like the Postal Service makes me think that the sound isn't "played out" because if it were then they would be able to find a much closer comparison. (Even Mum are closer to this sound I think but it's betrayed obviously by the fact I've not got a 5yr old girl to sing on it) I admit it sits very comfortably in Notwist/Go Find/SchneiderTM territory, but they have not been around nearly as long as people with guitars and drums so I'm confused that the style would attract accusations of being "done" more so than other genres. I guess if it is played out, I think you can bear a couple more years of it. Just gimme a second, I'm trying to figure out where 'the next level' is, nobody rushed Charles Hayward there's tons more navel to be gazed at

[j$]

I'm bummed out at the fact that this would've been a really easy fight to win and yet Steve's probably gonna beat me again (and with good reason).

Your arrogance does you a disservice, especially as your song is so weak.

[furrypedro]

in what sense does it do me a disservice?
and in what sense is the song weak?

[j$]

c layne - Is the first line Bottom feeders? Great guitar tone. your songs are always too long. The chorus could do with a different rhytmic pattern - it takes some of the beauty out of it. Other than that I have nothing negative to say about this. A winner if it had been in from the start, and probably still one.

Cheat & others - 5 minutes of this? Not bad but the joke isn't strong enough for extension. Nice weird guitar solo.

Klownhole - become gayer with every passing entry. This is cool!

Rio Mondo - nice 'urge overkill' style lead work. Really nice mood evoked. I am wondering about how this is gonna sit with the lyric,. Actually I like the overall feel - but the joke isn't that funny and the vocal is a little wayward. Great music (though could do with a funky little bass line to enliven it at 1.45ish when it starts to fall apart a little. probably could have faded out by about 2.20ish? Again, not bad, just could do with some serious tightening up.

Shambles Square -

Screamin' Ike - heheh - I like the human beatbox thing. You should maybe pan it a little more or effect it, it kind of messes with the vocal line. I like your voice but not especially aroused by tough talk in rappin'. Get a bit bored a minute in. Sorry.

Steve Durand - Makes me think of Toot & the Mayals. Nice pastiche. Not sure about the (imagined by me?) the slight cod-jamaican inflections of the vocal. Subject matter is about as subtle as the musical copying of style Very nicely done but not enjoyable for me. I'd rather listen to the real thing? Good just not for me.

TMK - of course this song doesn't really suck. But it's certainly no better than 2/3rds of this fight. This is slightly dull. I think the self-consciously wacky lyric does the song a suffering. lots of cool phrases linked together do not make a good lyric in my opinion. And the phrases are cool, it just feels a bit empty by 1.49. (ps it sounds more like electronic Bright Eyes to me. But what do I know - I like my electronica nastier.)

I enjoyed this fight.

[Kweep]

c. layne - excellent guitar sound... good production in general. vocal performance is a little tentative but has potential.

cheat et al. - lame... go out right this second and buy a metronome, a chord book and a stopwatch... it's way too long. the guitar solo thing was the best part and accordin' to momma.... "it ain't worth shit".

Klownhole - interesting but feels contrived. i like the alice cooperyness a lot though.

rio mondo - acoustic guitar part feels too busy. cool e guitar tone. lyrics kinda lame. vox not bad but mixed a bit too low. dude, the end is fuckin kick ass!!

Screamin Ike - the beatbox had potential... but then came the lyrics...

Shambles Square - good production over all. the e guitar is too noodly, but the vox make up for it... great vocal tone and delivery.

Steve Durand - fun lyrics. interesting horn parts. vox are ok but, i hate it when i can hear autotune working...

TMK - Awesome sounds and vocals. i'm not too into the lyrics but, the overall vibe of this track is pretty damn cool.

ok, this fight was pretty light on excellence... so, i'm goin with rio because the end of his tune was so damn funny that it made the rest of the tune bearable (that was the point, i'm guessin').

[furrypedro]

c.layne: forgot this one. I like it and the way the rhythm has some tension but doesn't require too much from the drums, cos i usually get really bored with drums that don't do anything. I like the vocal effect too, the fact that you've cut it and layered it up rather than just whacking in an insert.

I think this raised the bar. possibly even a vote stealer, we'll see.

lots of cool phrases linked together do not make a good lyric in my opinion

no, you're right, and I really hate writing lyrics and I make it so laboured. but I'm glad you think the individual phrases are okay. I'm trying to get into taking one idea and building a whole set around it rather than throwing lots of barely related elements together. It definitely wasn't trying to be wacky

[c.layne]

c layne - Is the first line Bottom feeders? Great guitar tone. your songs are always too long.

you know, as i was mixing it down, i actually though 'man, j$ is going to think this goes on too long...' i did it anyway
i actually did think that, no joke.

yes, the first line is 'bottom feeders we're all'

[j$]

Well, I'm nothing if not consistent / predictable

j$

[c.layne]

man, it's been a long time since i've done any reviews. here goes:

me - i stayed up until 3am monday morning working on this, and then had to be at work at 7. i didn't make it to work on time that day. the mix isn't quite as tight as i'd like, but i'm not sure what to do with it.

cheat+marigold jenkins - i would invest in a pop filter for your mic. musical this is pretty dry, but the lyrics are kind of entertaining. i'm not sure what else to say about this, other than the pop filter tip.

klownhole - YES! so far i have no complaints. it's thick and noisy and awesome. i guess someone might complain that the vocals are mixed too low, but i like them just where they are. wow, is this really 6 minutes long? yes, again! maybe i shouldn't care about this, but how did you get it encoded at 125/6kbps? weird. well, i'm just going to ramble if i keep typing, but this song is awesome. gritty and psychedelic and energetic.

rio mondo - is this all of rio mondo? is hat man back on leave or something? one of you went into the military, right? anyhow, the song...
i find it interesting that more than one song references 'sucking' as an actual place. that never crossed my mind. i like the atmosphere of (most of) this song. the main vocals sound out of place as they are really dry in contrast to the reverb of the rest of the song. the lyrics are kind of lame. the end is awesome, though!

screamin' ike - stay away from my mom. the beat is kind of cute at first, but gets old pretty fast, and i find myself wanting from some additional instrumentation, maybe even some a capella stuff.

shamblesquare - loondun. heheh. umm, the production is pretty solid for what this is. i wish i could get into this more, and i do like the chorus a lot, but i've always had a hang-up with talky lyrics. all and all this is a pretty solid, quirky track.

steve durand - brass sounds awesome, but the vocals don't have the same clarity. they don't necessarily clash, but the vocals almost seem like they were pulled from another song. this is a fun, bouncy song. i do kind of wish that it built up some energy as it went along, it kind of hits its height a few seconds in and stays there the rest of the time.

those meddling kids - i think this may be my favorite of this fight. i like the sampling and arrangement. i like the reverb on the voice in the first bit of the song, but i can't tell if it goes away, or if the reverb on the vocals just needs to build as the song does. great jorb.

[boltoph]

c. layne

and

Klownhole

rock.

And the middle of Meddling Kids' work is very sweet.

rök

[EightLeggedOedipus]

C Layne
+++ you kick ass. very rob crow / pinback ish. +++
--- the chorus melody is instantly forgettable ---
+++ great m w gacy sounds +++

(VOTE)

[ruin8r]

the cheat: You got yourself a real moral victory here. I don't really like it that much but it sticks in my mind and won't go away. OK, it's not that bad. Actually I like parts of it. Maybe if I hum Girl From Ipanema it will leave my brain.

clayne: reminds me of some recentish pop band I can't quite remember the name of. Excellent recording and performance and such. Wish this one was stuck in my brain instead but it's rather forgettable.

klownhole: :-)

riomondo: I like it but the music sounds too familiar.

screaminmike:

shamblessquare: Sounds like the same song as screaminmike except with instruments and better vocals.

stevedurand: Not funny enough.

thosemeddlingkids: reminds me of some possibly-not-so-recentish pop band I can't quite remember the name of. The vocals are good for what they are. Actually the vocals in particular remind me a bit of The Wedding Present.